'WTA Finals There? Laughable!': McEnroe On Prospect Of Saudi Arabia's Involvement In Tennis

| by Zachary Wimer

John McEnroe isn't a fan of Saudi Arabia entering tennis, but like many, he understands that it's pretty much inevitable.

A lot of tennis players have come out in support of Saudi Arabia entering tennis despite a widely accepted yet disputed human rights record. In ways, they're already in tennis, as there were the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah this year on top of a women's exhibition match between Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur and a men's exhibition match between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.

The events ran smoothly, but former ATP player John McEnroe isn't a fan. He's cautioned against involvement in the past. He was asked about it once more during a video conference call with ESPN and doubled down on his stance. Even so, he understands that money talks, and it will happen.

It wouldn’t shock me. Let’s put it this way: money talks. “Oh, no, I wouldn’t do that. How much was I offered? On second thought maybe I will do that.” Personally, I disagree with it completely, with the golf and the tennis.

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The ladies are going to play the WTA Finals there? Are you kidding me? Because they treat women so well? That part is to me laughable.

In fairness, the country has turned a new page in recent years, opting for more liberal practices that improved women's rights in the country.

In any case, McEnroe refuses to criticize players because they are not doing anything that countries and governments are not doing already. In the case of tennis, the governing bodies will ultimately make the decision.

At the same time, which is also laughable, is the people that can criticize tennis players or golfers for doing something that virtually every business and the government do, which is deal with Saudi Arabia.

This idea that tennis players have to set the moral standard, or golfers for that matter, when they’re all making the money, it’s a total joke as far as I’m concerned. We’ll see what happens. I’d be surprised if the Saudis don’t buy those tournaments actually. Not that they will. I’ll be surprised if they don’t have them.

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